Corporate venturing deal net: 18-22 September 2017
Each Friday the Global Corporate Venturing Deal Net rounds up the week’s smaller deals and tracks the emerging companies accessing corporate funds.
Fundraising
Baidu launches $1.5bn Apollo Fund
The fund is expected to invest in 100 autonomous driving startups over the next three years.
Salesforce studies $50m AI fund
Salesforce Ventures is dedicating a total of $50m to an investment fund aimed at the artificial intelligence sector.
Credit Suisse creates impact investment unit
The newly formed Impact, Advisory and Finance unit will fund products or services that benefit societies as well as supporting the bank’s philanthropic advisory services.
BMW begins 2018 edition of UK incubator
BMW Innovation Lab 2018’s 10-week initiative will provide startups with advice and access to investors, and the corporate is also seeking innovators from within the company.
FirstMinute Capital finds Tencent for $85m second close
FirstMinute Capital, a fund launched by Lastminute.com founder Brent Hoberman, has added $25m from backers including corporates Tencent and Nan Fung Group.
People
Alex Lin, who formerly headed SGInnovate, will now lead defence and engineering firm ST Engineering’s corporate venturing unit.
Jennifer Li, CEO of Baidu’s corporate venturing arm, has stepped down as the group’s chief financial officer, with Herman Yu joining from Weibo to take the role.
Allen joins Amazon from Mastercard
Jeff Allen went to payment services provider Mastercard, where he was vice-president for strategic investments, in 2009 from investment bank Sagent Advisors.
Karen Zhang finds General Atlantic
Zhang joined Baidu, where she held a executive director for investment role, in 2015, and will now oversee Chinese internet and technology deals at General Atlantic.
Exits
Weiying finds Maoyan merger just the ticket
Corporate-backed online ticketing service Weiying is set to merge several of its assets with peer Maoyan, which is majority owned by Enlight Media.
ZhongAn zips in to close $1.5bn IPO
SoftBank bought $500m of shares as online insurance platform ZhongAn priced the largest ever fintech IPO in Hong Kong, giving exits to Ping An, Tencent and Ant Financial.
Long-term investor Alibaba may buy up to another $150m of shares in Best Logistics in the US in a downsized initial public offering.
Seraphim Space Fund blasts off with $95m
Seraphim Capital’s space-focused VC fund has achieved a $95m close with contributions from SES, Airbus and Telespazio.
Despegar flies to public markets in $332m offering
The Expedia-backed Latin American tourism booking platform floated in the US at the top of its range, and could close the initial public offering at up to $382m.
SoftBank slides closer to ZhongAn IPO investment
SoftBank will take a 5% stake in the online insurer, investing up to $550m, in an initial public offering in Hong Kong that could top $1.5bn.
Qudian quickens pace to $750m IPO
Ant Financial and Kunlun Tech are among the investors set to exit as the online lending platform, which has filed to go public in the US.
IT
Intel Capital has participated in an inaugural funding round for Vexata, which has just released its data storage technology platform.
Intel Capital reaches $1bn in AI investments
The unit has pumped in more than $1bn into artificial intelligence developers, Intel CEO Brian Krzanich revealed earlier this week.
Mahindra senses Cloudleaf for $13m series A
Industrial internet-of-things technology developer Cloudleaf will use the proceeds from its Mahindra Group-backed series A round for innovation and product commercialisation.
BMW grasps DSP Concepts in $10m round
BMW i Ventures has led a series A round for DSP Concepts, the creator of software that helps developers add voice control to their products.
Customer visualisation platform mParticle picks up $35m
The GV-backed customer data platform has raised new money in a Harmony Partners-led series C round that boosted its overall funding to nearly $74m.
Zhizhangyi secures funds in Fosun-backed round
The mobile security software provider doubled its total funding with a $22.8m series A+ round led by Fosun RZ Capital.
The object storage technology developer has secured funding in a round that was co-led by Dell Technologies Capital and backed by Intel Capital.
TalkIQ finds voice to raise $14m
Corporate investors Line and Salesforce Ventures participated in a series A round for the voice conversation analysis platform.
TigerGraph traces $31m series A
The graph database platform has emerged from stealth with $31m in series A funding from investors including Baidu and Ant Financial.
Aqua Security surfaces $25m series B
Microsoft Ventures, which previously led a $9m series A round, has returned to back a $25m series B that will help Aqua Security strengthen its market position.
Summit Bridge Capital led a series D round that increased the Intel Capital-backed mobile marketing software developer’s total funding to more than $75m.
Matroid meets Intel in $10m round
Intel and New Enterprise Associates have co-led a series A round for computer vision startup Matroid, bringing its total funding to $13.5m.
SoftBank slips into Slack with $250m round
SoftBank Vision Fund has led a $250m round also backed by Accel that valued the enterprise communication platform at $5.1bn.
AppGuard applies itself to $30m series B
The endpoint cybersecurity software developer has raised cash in a JTB-led round that comes shortly after its parent company raised more than $65m from Japanese corporates.
Tanker carries itself to new funding
Corporate venturing units Axa Strategic Ventures and InnovAllianz joined Idinvest Partners and Kima Ventures to invest $7.2m in encryption software developer Tanker.
Health
Disarm persuades investors for series A
AbbVie Ventures is among the backers of a $30m series A round for Disarm Therapeutics, a biotechnology spinout from Washington University in St Louis.
Sonendo sinks its teeth into $50m
Henry Crown and Company’s investment affiliate CVF has returned to back a $50m round for Sonendo, which will support the commercialisation of its dentistry devices.
GV helps Rodin sculpt $27m round
Neurological drug developer Rodin Therapeutics has now raised more than $57m in total, its past investors including Johnson and Johnson and Biogen.
Cambridge Medical Robotics clears $46m series A
The surgery robotics developer has added $26m from investors including ABB Technology Ventures to complete its series A round, 14 months after closing the first tranche.
LifeMine hatches $55m series A
WuXi Healthcare Ventures has led a first funding round for LifeMine Therapeutics that also featured GV and Merck Ventures.
Immunocore takes in up to $40m
Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation will invest up to $40m in the biological drug developer, which raised $320m in an Eli Lilly-backed round two years ago.
Cofactor collects $18m in series A
Ascension Health and Wilson, Sonsini, Goodrich & Rosati contributed to the oncology therapy developer’s series A round, which was led by Menlo Ventures.
Consumer
Big Deal: Nestlé bags Blue Bottle
The multinational’s acquisition of a 68% stake in GV-backed coffee chain Blue Bottle, for up to $500m, shows upscale consumer brands are a decent bet for VCs.
MissFresh reaps $230m in series C+ round
Returning investor Tencent chipped in to a round that increased the total raised by the online fresh produce retailer to more than $400m since it was founded in 2014.
Raise retails series C shares for $60m
PayPal is part of a consortium of investors that has pushed the total funding for gift card marketplace Raise to more than $147m.
L Catterton crafts Innis & Gunn investment
The LVMH-backed private equity firm has acquired a 27.9% stake in craft beer brewer Innis & Gunn in return for a $20.3m investment.
MycoTechnology grows $35m series B
MycoTechnology, the developer of a mushroom-based vegan protein, secured the capital in a round co-led by Bunge that included Kellogg and Continental Grain.
Financial
Ping An helps 10x add $46m in funding
Financial services portal developer 10x Future Technologies has raised $46m and may partner Ping An to enter the Asian market.
Luno pockets $9m series B round
The digital wallet operator has raised $9m in a series B round that will help consolidate its product launch in 40 different markets.
The online creative donation platform, which counts talent agencies CAA and UTA as investors, has raised funding in a series C round led by Thrive Capital.
Younited brings investors together for new funding
AG2R La Mondiale, Matmut and Crédit Mutuel Arkéa took part in a $47.8m funding round for crowdlending platform Younited Credit, which now plans to expand globally.
Ellevest elevates itself to next stage
Salesforce Ventures and CreditEase Fintech Investment Fund contributed to a $34.6m round that will help the female-focused investment platform add new services.
HighRadius measures out $50m from SGE
Susquehanna Growth Equity has provided $50m in funding for HighRadius, which operates a cloud-based platform to manage account receivables.
Energy and Natural Resources
Sunseap rises with more series C cash
Banpu has provided a $56m extension for Sunseap’s series C round, bringing the renewable energy provider’s latest round to at least an $60.8m close.
StoreDot eyes Daimler in $60m round
Daimler Trucks has led StoreDot’s latest funding round, which included Samsung Ventures, as part of a strategic partnership agreement.
Bayer and Ginkgo combine for $100m startup
Corporates Ginkgo Bioworks and Bayer have launched a plant microbiome technology startup that is equipped with $100m in series A funding.
Transport
Hyperloop One reaches $85m series B-1
GE Ventures returned to contribute to a series B-1 round that valued the advanced transport network developer at $700m, bringing its overall funding to $245m.
Youon yanks in $123m for rural subsidiary
Ant Financial has acquired a 30.5% stake in Jiangsu Yonganxing Low Carbon Technology, which will take bike sharing service Youon’s business model to smaller cities.
Sun Mobility moves towards $100m
SoftBank Vision Fund is reportedly in talks with Sun Mobility to invest up to $100m in the smart batteries developer.
Gogoro speeds to $300m series C
Sumitomo, Engie and existing backer Panasonic were among the investors in the round, which boosted the electric scooter producer’s total funding to $480m.
BP fuels Victor in $20m series B
Jet chartering marketplace Victor has raised $20m, half of which was invested by BP Ventures as part of a commercial agreement with BP Air.
Ushr beckons GM to series A round
GeoDigital spinoff Ushr has secured $10m in a Forte Ventures-led round that included General Motors, and will use the cash to test its vehicle mapping software.
Services
ThinkCerca writes up series B round
TAL Education and existing investor Follett Corporation were among the participants in a $10.1m round that took the total raised by the critical skills learning platform to $14.8m.
YH Global signs for $182m delivery
Shenzhen Grandland Group has taken part in a series A round for supply chain services provider YH Global, which operates logistics centres in more than 50 Chinese cities.
KeyMe cracks series D for $25m
The digital locksmith has now raised more than $100m since 2012, after closing a Comcast Ventures-led round that included fellow returning investors including 7-Eleven.